OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM

It is always difficult to separate personal leadership shortcomings from politics. But the shortcomings of our political leaders are not the main problem facing us. We need to be aware that there has been a fundamental shift in the politics of this country in which both of the two main parties have grown more homogeneous and the mix of national concerns increasingly has turned towards issues of identity, or  - if you prefer to call a spade a spade - race!

PNM voters are overwhelmingly black, conservative and christian.  UNC voters are overwhelmingly Hindu (which means Indian), Indian Muslim and generally better off. PNM funding comes largely from the Syrian and business communities while UNC funding comes almost exclusively from wealthy Indian businessmen.

The media is largely dominated by blacks and (in the case of the Guardian) the Syrians, and their reporting and editorials generally reflect their bias.  (Although thanks in no small part to the unforced errors on the part of the Rowley regime this has changed recently. It remains to be seen what will happen when the election bell is rung.)

The attitude on both sides is not just that the other side (whoever the "other side" might be) is wrong and misguided, but that the other side is actually evil. In these circumstances compromise and moving forward is all but impossible.

Both parties are hurling themselves off the proverbial cliff in resisting a genuine reaching out to the other side, although, from where I sit Mrs. Persad-Bissessar appears to be more amenable to reaching out than Dr. Rowley. I say this partly because I found both the Prime Minister's and Stuart Young's comments about treason and quislings to be offensive in the extreme. I have not observed any similar statements from either Mrs. Persad-Bissessar or any of her lieutenants.

No. Our country is more divided politically than ever before. There is a distinct lack of trust in the bona fides of "the other side" ... and THAT is probably our biggest problem